Auntie Jen's Family Trees: The Blizzard of 1982

Today is the 39th anniversary of the blizzard of '82. The blizzard no one was prepared for. The blizzard that crippled the city for days and stranded many people. The blizzard that people still talk about today. I was born in 1982, but not until March. So obviously I have no memories of this particular event, but my mom and dad sure did. They even saved a newspaper clipping from the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

St. Louis Post Dispatch

Jan 31, 1982

Click here to read the story on the St. Louis Post Dispatch Website

It started as a rainstorm on the day of Jan 30, 1982. As the evening went on it turned into snow. With only 4 inches of snow forecast by the meteorologists, the main worry at the time was flooding. But they were sure in for a surprise.

Photo Courtesy of
St. Louis Post Dispatch/Ted Dargan
Feb 1, 1982

By morning, the 4 inches of snow predicted had turned into over a foot of snow in many areas in St. Louis and up to 2 feet in some parts of Illinois. The average total for St. Louis city, County, and Jefferson County was around 18 inches. This would be the third-heaviest snowfall in history for St. Louis. It came so fast and hard that it crippled the city. People were stranded on the highways and in their homes. Some abandoned their cars which made it hard for plows to clear the roads. And the snow just fell so fast and hard they couldn't keep up. And then there was just too much period that there was nowhere to go with it all.
The only comparison I have to this event in my own personal experience is the blizzard that came down in 2018. Only this time, everyone was warned ahead of time. Although it didn't seem to help much. The blizzard arrived hours earlier than expected. So everyone decided to all leave work or school at the same time. That compounded the issue. Highways got backed up and snowplows couldn't get through. It wouldn't have helped much anyway with how fast the snow fell. Roads began to close which created bottlenecks on other roads and highways. My mom ended up getting trapped on Highway 44 for about 15 hours because she could get through.
So I have no memories of the blizzard of '82 like I said, but my mom told me a little bit about it. One story she recalls was when she and dad decided to go take a drive in their 4-wheel drive truck to look around at the snow. Well, they got stuck on Hwy 44 (again with Hwy 44) because of an accident. The Hwy got shut down. They sat for a while until they saw people driving through the middle of the highway to get to the other side so they could go back to town. Mom had to pee so bad (what with being 7 months pregnant) so dad said, "Hold on". Dad hit the gas and took the center median. No seatbelts then so mom is holding on to dear life. She was afraid all the bouncing was going to cause her to go into labor haha! But they got turned around and back home. She said, next time they will just stay home.
There were many news stories about this event, which I have shared below. Stories included good samaritans helping others in this time of need. One being my Uncle Marty. My Aunt Melinda told me that my Uncle Marty was one of the good samaritans that were using their 4-wheel drive to help people get to places like the hospitals. People had to rely on their neighbors and strangers to get to where they needed to go. Like I said, the city was literally crippled.

Do you have any memories of the Blizzard of '82 that affected St. Louis? Share them below!